Bulgaria's GERB Leads President Vote after 57% Ballot Count, Yordanka Fandakova was reelected as mayor of Sofia
The nominations for president and vice president of Bulgaria's ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, party have the lead in the Sunday vote after the counting of 57% of the ballots.
The information was reported Monday by the spokesperson of the Central Electoral Commission, CEC, Ralitsa Negentsova.
Bulgaria's former Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Rosen Plevneliev, and his running mate, Justice Minister on leave, Margarita Popova, nominated by GERB, have 39.67%.
The candidates of the opposition, left-wing Bulgarian Socialist party, BSP, Ivaylo Kalfin, who is a former Foreign Affairs Minister in the Socialist-led Three-Way Coalition cabinet and a current Member of the European Parliament, and his running mate, former Culture Minister from the BSP quota and movie star, Stefan Danailov, have 29.75% of the vote.
The first and now-former Bulgarian EU Commissioner and independent presidential candidate, formerly from the party of ex King and Prime Minister, Simeon Saxe-Coburg, National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, NMSP, Meglena Kuneva, is third with 14/09%.
GERB have received 38% of the local vote, followed by the opposition left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, with 24% and the ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms, DPS, with 6.7%
GERB had won the mayoral seats at first round in four regional centers - the capital Sofia, and the cities of Burgas, Gabrovo and Dobrich, BSP has a mayor in Shumen, the nationalist VMRO NIE - in Montana, DPS - in Kardzhali while independent candidates will become mayors of the cities of Pazardzhik and Kyustendil.
In Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova from GERB, was reelected as mayor with 51.5% of the votes against 22.2% for the BSP nomination, Georgi Kadiev./Source: Sofia News Agency/